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Joining us - what our practices say

We offer a range of dental payment plans, to suit the needs of you and your patients.
Whether you’re a private or NHS practice, or thinking of changing dental payment plan provider, use the links below to learn more about what our dentists say about their experience of joining.

Click the headings below to view case studies from member dentists and see what they say
about joining us.

Please note, as of February 2017, Denplan has rebranded as Simplyhealth Professionals. References made in these case studies therefore now relate to Simplyhealth Professionals, and our Denplan payment plan products.

Find out how easy it is to join us.

Switched from private fee-per-item

“We are a busy fully private four-surgery dental practice in central York with a large and loyal patient base.

We decided to switch to Denplan so we could concentrate more on a preventive approach for our patients. We can ensure a more regular attendance for both routine examinations and hygiene visits without the usual lag many patients seem to build into their routine dental care. A number of studies have shown patients who are on payment plans attend far more regularly then their pay as you go counterparts.

Routine radiographs are another area we find very important; these now are not an issue to the patients as they are all included.

Another important area to us was that we were simply too busy. We needed to create space in our day books to undertake the more specialised areas of dentistry we had obtained all these qualifications in, so we decided to thin down our patient numbers (by passing them on to an associate) and we saw a Denplan conversion as a useful way of doing this.’

Patients had the option of staying on our list as Denplan patients or seeing our Associate as pay as you go, albeit with limited numbers.

‘We decided we should offer both Essentials and Care to our patients as all the preventive areas were covered and it did give the patients an element of choice (which we found quite useful on occasions). It does also give the practice the best of both worlds, income-wise, as you have a large group of patients generating a regular income on Care but you also have the capacity to increase your income undertaking pay as you go work on the Essentials’ patients.

The front desk seem much happier due to the decreased amount of administration, the majority of patient interactions (routine examination and hygiene visits) now do not need any ‘over the counter’ financial transactions which frees them up time to do other tasks.

We found the conversion process fairly straightforward but I cannot stress enough the importance of the wording of your letter; this is vital. Often we found the patients who were the unhappiest simply had not read the contents of their letter and really only made the first two lines before getting irritated. The majority of these would usually be perfectly happy with the situation if we could get them in and talk to them in person and actually explain the benefits to them.

We found the help of our Denplan Consultant invaluable for the first month of our conversion.

She was obviously very experienced in these things and was a very useful asset when it was needed and I would strongly recommend using a Consultant to everybody. It allows your own staff to do their normal daily tasks (whilst still answering questions about Denplan!) and really helps train them both in dealing with enquiries as well as filling out the correct forms etc. The staff can often be more apprehensive than you are (but not necessarily tell you) and it is extremely important you get them ‘on-side’ to make the whole process run quicker and smoother. If they can appreciate you are doing your best to help them it does help.

Our Denplan Consultant was a great help and worked extremely hard to ensure we had a smooth as conversion as possible. This work started many months before the letters were sent out and continued for a long time afterwards. She worked tirelessly for us and put in a lot of time and effort to help us and it was much appreciated.

There is that horrible thought that you may simply be cut adrift after the conversion but I assure you that this is not the case.

Although still fairly early on in the conversion process I would recommend this to other Dentists. In the short term of course it makes your working day harder and you will find problems to overcome but this has to be weighed against the fact that in the long run it will help your working days run a lot more smoothly. It will also help your staff’s working days run more smoothly and ultimately benefit your patients.”

Nigel Kirk Dentist at Castlegate Dental Surgery, York

Switched from NHS

“I have had a small patient list with Denplan for approximately 20 years and have always liked the way that the company works to support patients and dentists.

In 2011 I decided to concentrate on the private side of the practice. I wanted to step off the NHS treadmill and be able to allow patients more time for their treatment and have more freedom to use the best materials without the financial restraints that can sometimes apply when treating patients on the NHS.

The actual process was quite emotional and exhausting for me especially in the early days of the conversion. The Denplan team were extremely helpful and the advice and reassurance were invaluable.

I became more confident in talking to patients about the conversion which led to a very successful conversion.

I have now just over 500 Denplan patients. I am enjoying being able to provide what I feel is the right treatment for patients rather than having to discuss NHS / private options with them.

I am enjoying the fact that my monthly income is consistent and that I don’t have to worry about doing my UDAs if we have snow or I want to attend more training courses than normal. The support that Denplan provide to dentists in terms of training for the team and myself has been excellent and I have enjoyed socialising with other like-minded dentists at the various Denplan events that I have attended.

Moving my patients over to Denplan has been a great decision for me and I am looking forward to doing their Excel Accreditation scheme later on this year.”

Carole Bamford, member dentist

Set up practice from scratch

“Right from the start we all agreed we wanted a Denplan practice so we could offer our patients affordable private treatment, so we went to them with our idea next. They were really supportive and gave us access to their patient profiling services straight away, so that we could work out who our target audience was. A member of the Marketing Support team visited us to talk about the most effective ways to reach potential patients and made sure we were on the right track, and our Consultant helped us set our fees, arranged training for us and was generally there for us when we needed her.

The process of attracting new patients has taken up a lot of time and we have tried to tackle it from every angle and really think outside the box to give the practice great exposure in the local community.

Denplan helped us design posters tailored to our practice requirements and with their help we also advertised on the front wrap of a free local newspaper; delivered leaflets both door-to-door and in shopping centres; liaised with local businesses; put a sandwich board outside the practice and posters in various windows; attended a local fair and had an open evening at the practice! Phew!

We also placed an editorial in a magazine, which was written for us by the Denplan Press Office, advertised our wedding package in a bridal publication and attended a bridal fair and country show.

The leaflet drop did particularly well for us, as did the editorial in the local magazine. We’ve also developed a great relationship with the local gym, where we know people care about staying healthy so it’s a good target market for us. They have our tailor-made posters up and include our leaflets in their welcome packs. Local businesses are one of the best ways of advertising at little or no cost – it takes time and effort but it does pay off.

Most recently, Denplan’s Practice Marketing Support Team continued to help us with our marketing by creating a new advert for our local paper with a special Christmas offer that helped us attract more patients in the following months. We’re also taking up their suggestion of a ‘refer a friend’ scheme – with the positive patient feedback we have had so far this could work really well for us as we continue to grow.

She is our Consultant but we also consider her a friend and we’re lucky to have her and her expertise behind our practice. It just goes to show that with a great deal of perseverance, hard work and the help of the right people, you really can do anything you set your mind to!”

Diane Lee Practice Manager at Fairford Leys Smile Centre, Bucks

Goodwill transfer

“A Consultant summarised what the plans were all about, the ethics of the company and the way in which it benefited practice owners and patients alike. He put me in touch with my local Denplan Consultant, who was knowledgeable and very happy to speak to me, even though the purchase hadn’t been finalised yet.

She was the local area Consultant for the practice I was about to purchase, so our working relationship started well before the I had even taken over, and she has continued to be there throughout. Prior to taking over, she was a good sounding board and gave me real insight as to the area, demographics and type of practice I was about to take over. Although she worked for Denplan, she gave me an unbiased view as to the positives and pitfalls surrounding Fee-per Item vs Capitation schemes, one that I had never had to work with prior.

Buying a practice that had a large Capitation scheme could have been a mine field, but I can safely say that this service and continued contact with a member of the team was invaluable during what was a very intense period of time. She was always on the end of the phone, even on weekends!”

Ravi Nathwani, member dentist

Changing payment plan provider

“Tandragee has always been a private dental practice run by our husband and wife team, Bryan Telford Wright and Alison Burnett. We offer loads of services ranging from general dental maintenance to surgical implants and orthodontics. We’ve got over 1,000 patients who are absolutely great! Everyone knows us when they come in and we know every single one of our patients as they’re all lovely! We pride ourselves on our customer service and personal approach and that’s why we always want the best for them and for our team.”

Why we switched to Denplan

“I did the dental nursing at the practice for 10 years before I eventually became the practice manager and I noticed straight away just how little support we were getting from our current payment plan provider, particularly on the administration side of things. I had to do absolutely everything and there was no support from them at all.

Then one day our Denplan Consultant John came in and it was clear that what they were offering was so much better - and with much more support it was a no brainer to be honest! Not only could he offer me bespoke training days complete with CPD hours, but support in regards to the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) regulations, which made things a lot easier for me. I think it’s amazing what we get out of this relationship and believe that it’s changed our dental practice for the better!

The transition was brilliant; a wee bit scary to begin with as everyone was worried about a big, dramatic change. But it wasn’t like that at all as Denplan have been really supportive. John’s been absolutely brilliant. I was on the phone constantly to him for the first few weeks, his support has been amazing and I was able to ring him as often as I needed. He was even in the practice on the day of the launch to make sure it went really smoothly and that’s exactly what it did. His mobile number is now firmly posted right above my desk and he still calls in quite frequently to make sure things are going well. It’s easy to fall back in the first few months, but just with a phone call at the end of the week, John keeps us all motivated. It’s been fantastic.

Because we’ve had no problems whatsoever with the transition to Denplan, it’s meant that the patients were really supportive too. Once we took the time to explain everything, they needed very little convincing as they knew we had their best interests at heart and were happy to get on board.”

Why we are better off with Denplan

“The staff are also 100% supportive in terms of the changeover. When I look at the last provider, there was none of that support or training, so the staff didn’t know how to answer any questions about the plan. But with Denplan everyone is on track. Plus, I can offer them so much more in terms of professional development with Denplan training events for the whole team. That’s one of the best things about Denplan. I’ve been to the recent Practice Manager Forums and there is another one coming up soon for the Reception team. We’ve got a schedule for the whole year of the courses we’re going to and that really helps us keep motivated.

I would 100% recommend Denplan to other dental practices. The change since we moved has been amazing and we’ve even gained new patients as the response has been unbelievable.”

Why we came back to Denplan

"Our practice was originally with Denplan but about three years ago we transferred to another patient plan provider to help reduce practice costs during the recession. It soon became clear that this was a false economy.

We’d not appreciated:

How efficiently Denplan looked after our patients

How much training we were given by Denplan

How much marketing support we were offered

That the Denplan dashboard has a very comprehensive website portal and user-friendly website and free marketing support access. The portal helps us keep all our plan records up to date and reduces the amount of time we have to spend on admin, plus it has many useful guides and downloadable materials for patients and the practice

Just how comprehensive the support given by our Consultant was

We re-joined Denplan following a recommendation from another colleague. We were immediately assigned our own consultant who took over the whole process and assisted us in a very smooth transition with excellent customer service and support in all aspects. In essence they took away the headache of dealing with the administration so that we could concentrate on treating our patients with very little interruption. Our patient transfer rate was exceptionally good and the patients were delighted with the news of going back to Denplan. We have benefited in many ways and within a short space of time we increased our patient numbers and gained an additional 50 patients on Denplan.

We had our personal Consultant basically holding our hand throughout the process and they have completed training with our staff to prepare us for the change and assisted hands on with registering of new patients. We are well on our way to reaching our set targets and Denplan is currently assisting us in reaching our five year business plan and achieve our goal.

Our Denplan patient numbers have grown dramatically since returning in April 2014.

We would have no hesitation in highly recommending Denplan as a plan provider and we are pleased to be working with them for the long-term."